9. Xax

Chapter 9

Xax

W hen I suggested she sit on my lap, I expected Amanda to scowl at me. Maybe laugh off my suggestion. I didn't expect her to stride across the room and climb into the chair, straddle my hips, and drop her lush ass onto my thighs. She looked down at me with her palms on my shoulders and a sly grin on her face.

"Amanda," I croaked.

"Xax."

"You're sitting on me. Voluntarily touching me."

"I know. It's weird, right?" Her smile faded, and her head tilted. She watched my face. "I'm not ready to be your bride, but I'd like to get to know you better."

"And you believe that'll happen while you're sitting on my lap?" It was a struggle to suppress my cock. She smelled amazing, like sunshine and flowers, plus a subtle musk that could be desire. Please let it be desire.

I lifted my hands, unsure what to do with them. She took them and guided them to her hips .

"This is a good start, don't you think?" she said. "I mean, I'm not going to jump into your bed yet. We should give this a few days at least before we do that."

"Alright."

I couldn't help noticing how her dress rode high on her thighs. If she spread her legs wider, I'd see everything .

My cock shoved itself against my loincloth. Only the fabric on the sides held down by her inner thighs kept it from tipping the leather back onto my abs and exposing all I had to offer. She'd seen it already. Mocked it, actually. Maybe. With her wiggling on my lap, I couldn't quite remember.

"Where should we start?" I croaked.

Her gaze fell on my cock.

I wanted to tell her to stop, that looking would only encourage it. I'd never been with anyone but my hand. It wouldn't take much to make me shoot all the way to the stars.

"What's it like kissing a guy with tusks?" she asked.

"I haven't yet tried."

Her lips quirked up on one side. "Can I try?"

"You want to kiss me?"

"Only if you're up for something like that."

"I'm up in many ways."

Her smile widened. "I believe you are." Leaning close, she drilled my mouth with her hooded gaze. "You have blue lips."

"Yours are pink."

"Some women wear other colors. "

I had no idea what that meant but perhaps they enjoyed dressing their mouths in clothing as well?

Before I could ask, she placed her mouth against mine.

Heat roared through me and with a twist of my body, I turned us to put her beneath me. I stroked my tongue across her lips, demanding entry, and she complied with a moan. Her fingers clung to my shoulders as I twirled my tongue across hers. She tasted sweet, and I wanted more.

With a thrust of my leg, I spread her legs and settled my body between them. She was much smaller than me, so I couldn't place my cock where it ached to be while maintaining our kiss. That was a true tragedy. Nothing and no one was going to drag me off this woman now.

But when she twitched beneath me and started pushing on my shoulders, I lifted my head.

"Whoa." She traced her fingertip across her reddened mouth. Was this what she meant about changing color? I'd happily help her dress hers anew whenever she wanted. "I thought you were tame outside the bedroom but . . ." She tapped my chest. "Let me up."

I obliged, rising off her and tugging her up to stand on the floor in front of me.

"Do you need another kiss to discover what tusks feel like?" I asked, wishing she did.

She lifted her hand, the first finger sticking up. "Hold that thought." Her gaze darted to my cock jutting out the fabric of my loincloth. "You're dangerous."

"I don't bite. "

"Perhaps you should." She sauntered past me, turning back to look my way. "I'm hungry."

I gulped. Did she mean sexually? She said she didn't want to go with me to my bed, but I'd happily pleasure her in the chair instead. I'd never done something like that, but I'd imagine it many times. What did she taste like?

"Do you have a kitchen inside this shroom?" she asked, her voice shaky. At least I wasn't the only one affected by our kiss.

"Oh, yes. I do." She wasn't seeking pleasure; just one kiss. I hope I delivered what she needed. "You mean you're hungry for food ."

"Yes, food. What else did you think I . . ." Her laugh rang out, and she lightly tapped my chest. "I like you but not that much yet."

"When you need more, do let me know."

Her laughter trilled out again. "Oh, I will." Shaking her head, she widened her eyes, a gesture I didn't understand. "This is some sort of alien test, right?"

"What do you mean?"

"Your god is tempting me with something delicious."

She really must be really hungry. "I have food I can prepare for you."

"Dangerous," she hissed.

Since we'd left it, the chair slid back into the shroom structure, reabsorbed quickly.

"That's kind of amazing," she said, frowning at the now smooth floor.

"It's part of the mystery of our gods. Our clan god lives inside our structures. It watches. Waits to serve us."

"What about other clans? You mentioned crystal, stone, and rock."

"Their gods reside within their residences, though the Indigan Clan's crystal gods—they have more than one—also reside in their caves. The central gods, the strongest of them all, can be found within structures on an island not far from here." Since they were the gods the traedors visited to beg for mates, they must be the ones who'd delivered Amanda.

"Does your god have a name?"

I shook my head. "Why would it?"

"You have a name. I assume everyone in your clan has a name as well."

"They do."

"So why not your god?"

"You're a confusing female." Before she could question me more, I led her into one of the adjoining rooms where I urged the god to form a table with two chairs from plant fibers. While Amanda sat, running her hand across the tightly woven table and marveling at how comfortable the chair was, I crossed to one of the few permanent structures within my home, a counter holding implements for food preparation—also crafted from a sturdy plant that grew in profusion near our village.

"The gods of some clans present Zuldruxians with food," I said. "But our clan god does not."

"I'm not sure I'd feel comfortable eating something that oozed up out of the floor like the table and chairs, although I'm not opposed to a vegetarian diet."

"We hunt for meat, grow our own vegetables, and forage in the forest for herbs, berries, and other fruit. As for eating something provided by the gods, I assume a person does what they're used to. If it was always that way, you wouldn't question it."

"You're right."

I requested a flame beneath a pan and proceeded to cut small pieces of meat off a chunk I took from my cool box. That, I'd wrapped with plants that were naturally cold. I added chopped vegetables and herbs to the pan, and soon, the kitchen filled with the delicious smell of our meal.

Amanda came over to stand on my right, tilting sideways to study the flame. She opened the door to the cool box and stuffed her head inside, marveling at the chilly temperature. "This is very much like home. We call this a refrigerator where I come from."

"A cool box here."

"Same thing, although ours isn't made of plants."

"What's it constructed of then?"

"Metal."

"I'm not familiar with a plant called metal, though you mentioned it before."

"It's not a plant. It's a constructed material. We make a lot of stuff like that back home."

It made sense she'd call this other planet her home. Zuldrux was mine, and I couldn't imagine living anywhere else .

I took woven plates from an opening below the counter and placed them to the right of my cooking burner.

"It smells good," she said.

"Marmelot meat, plus vegetables and herbs grown near the base of my shroom."

"You must feel proud when you eat something you grew with your own hands. I assume you hunted for the meat."

"I hunt regularly," I said. "Zuldrux provides everything we need." Except mates.

"What's the weather like here?" she asked. "Where I come from, it gets very cold in the winter. We have to wear thick clothing, or we'll freeze, and we spend much of our time during those months inside with heat generated by our homes. Our spring and fall seasons are nice. We can go outside while wearing only a light jacket, and the air's crisp and wonderful. During the summer, it gets hot, but I like that season the best. I don't even mind the humidity. I love sitting on the grass and soaking up the sun's rays."

I wasn't completely sure what she meant with all that, but I enjoyed hearing her speak and seeing the animation on her face.

I stirred the meal, testing the meat to see if it was fully cooked. Not long now.

"The sun shines most days here," I said. "And rains on others. "

"No snow?"

"I've heard of snow but never seen it. Our temperature remains about the same all year long."

"This sounds like paradise."

It was. Would the warm weather make her want to stay?